Isola - More Than Just Pizza

My latest go-to place in Little Italy for solid food and reasonably priced, good Italian wine is Isola Pizza Bar. For a little background on the place, check out what Mr. Tin Fork himself wrote back in May.

Though it's the promise of delectable dough baked in a brick oven that draws me in the door (my favorite is the spicy salami pizza), there's always something else on the menu that I'm eager to share. David, my constant dining companion, always orders the gamberetti alla diavolo, which is "wood fired shrimp, white wine, garlic, capers, kalamata, chile, and tomato served on a bed of polenta."

On a recent visit, we tried something different (when the pizza's that good, it's so easy to forget that pizza makes up only a fraction of the menu). We went with a group, so we ordered a few apps for the table. I enjoyed the oven roasted beets with sweet red onions and fresh ricotta on a "crostino," but that was a lot of beets on one plate. They could probably get away with serving half as many beets, a handful of greens, and it would be just as delicious and not as overwhelming.

A group favorite is the bruschetta with fresh mozzarella, tomatoes, and prosciutto di parma.

Regardless of all the other goodies, though, it's just not right to leave without a bite of that pizza. Crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and all of the toppings taste of freshness.